Legends Blog

1. 1994 New Jersey Patterson AAU - Kobe Bryant - NBA. Vince Carter - North Carolina, NBA. Tim Thomas - Villanova, NBA. Rip Hamilton - Uconn, NBA. Kevin Freeman - Uconn.Considered by many the great AAU team ever assembled. They won 2 AAU national championships as stated by Kevin Freeman. While a lot of legend and myth surrounds this team there is more than enough personal account to believe in its existence. Rumor has it that Kobe Bryant played point with Hamilton & Carter at the off guards. The team also featured man amongst boys in high school Tim Thomas. This New Jersey based team will forever live in AAU lure. Its hard to imagine they lost much.

2. 1996 Riverside Church NYC - Ron Artest- St Johns, NBA. Lamar Odom - Rhode Island, NBA. Elton Brand - Duke, NBA. Eric Barkley - St Johns, NBA . A well balanced team that did not loose. Featuring NYC legends Artest and Odom, it was Brand who held down the inside. Eric Barkley also played significant minutes as the distributor. Featuring three future NBA All Stars Riverside Church was the most dominant team in the 1990s. By far the best offensive front line in the history of high school basketball.

3. 2003 Atlanta Celtics - Dwight Howard - NBA. Josh Smith - NBA. Randolph Morris - Kentucky, NBA. Jarvis Crittenton - Georgia Tech, NBA. Brandon Rush - Kansas, NBA. Mike Mercer, Georgia. The most intimidating front line in the history of traveling basketball. Future defensive Goliath's Josh Smith and Dwight Howard teamed to make the Celtics a dominant force. The often loaded Celtics featured 5 future NBA players and no one matched their talent level. Won the Adidas Big Time in Vegas. Won every game in the tournament (except 1) by 20 or more points.

4. 2002 Oakland Soliders - Lebron James - NBA. Kendrick Perkins - NBA. Leon Powe - Cal, NBA. Demarcus Nelson - Duke, NBA. Ayinde Ubaka - Cal.In the 2001 summer the Soldiers had the number 1 player in the West and south. When Lebron James showed that had three of the top 10 players in the entire nation. The Oakland team went on to win ever major tournament they played in together. People in California still talk about the summer Lebron teamed up with Oakland to give the whole country a show.

5. 2006 Southern California All-Stars - Kevin Love - UCLA, NBA. Brandon Jennings - NBA. Renardo Sidney - Mississippi State. Taylor King - Duke, Villanova. Daniel Hackett - USC, Italy. Malik Story - USCOnly two losses in 2006 and both came without Kevin Love. They won just about every tournament a team can win including the 2006 Big Time Tournament in Vegas. They had big wins over Derrick Rose’s Mean Streets team, Oj Mayo’s D-1 Greyhounds and Tyreke Evan’s Team Final. Brandon Jennings and Kevin Love dominated while Renardo Sidney complimented Love inside. Taylor King who was a grade school legend, lit up the outside for SCA. Daniel Hackett played big minutes at the off guard spot with Story coming off the bench.

A loaded squad added Gordon and McRoberts in 2004, the team lost 4 times in 2004-2005 summer seasons. Led by number one center Greg Oden, this Indiana team was easily the best team ever assembled in the Midwest. With a bevy of NBA talent this team was assembled from almost entirely from Indianapolis. Featuring top 10 players from three classes. Oden, Conley and Cook would eventually team up at Ohio State and make it to the national championship game as freshman.

7. 1998 DC Assault - Dermarr Johnson - Cincinnati, NBA. Keith Bogans - Kentucky, NBA. James White - Florida, Cincinnati, NBA. Rodney White - Charlotte, NBA.Perhaps the best layup lines in the history of AAU. Demar Johnson and James White were high wire acts that engulfed crowds across America. With 4 future NBA players the Assault simply overpowered and outclassed opponents to victory. This was the DC’s clubs best ever team in a strong line of history.

9. All-Ohio Red 2009 - Jared Sullinger - Ohio State, NBA. Aaron Craft - Ohio State. Adreian Payne - Michigan State - NBA. Juwan Staten - West Virginia. Jordan Sibert - Ohio State, Dayton.All-Ohio went 201-9 over a three-year stretch. One thing that holds All-Ohio back was the level of competition in their 2009 run. Never lost a single AAU game in the Midwest region. Featured a bevy of future Ohio State players. A tough and gritty team they were able to beat Belmont Shore, Dream Vision and Team Texas.